AMERICAN GARDEN-BEAN. 273 



Stalk fourteen to sixteen inches high, with few branches ; 

 flowers purple ; the pods are four and a half or five inches 

 long, streaked and spotted with purple, tough and parch- 

 ment-like when ripe, and contain five or six seeds. 



The ripe seeds are flesh-colored, striped and spotted with 

 purple, oblong, five-eighths of an inch long, and three- 

 tenths of an inch thick. Fourteen hundred are contained 

 in a quart. 



The variety is remarkably early, and, on this account, is 

 worthy of cultivation. The young pods, as well as the 

 seeds, green or dry, are inferior to many other sorts. 



A very hardy and vigorous variety, eigh- White's Early, 

 teen to twenty inches high. Flowers white, 

 tinged with purple ; the pods are five inches and a half 

 long, curved or sickle^shaped, green at first, yellowish- 

 white, striped with purple, when fully ripe, and contain five 

 seeds. 



Early plantings will blossom in six weeks, young pods 

 may be plucked for use in seven weeks, and the crop will 

 ripen in eighty-two days. If planted as late in the season 

 as the first week in July, the variety will generally ripen 

 perfectly ; and, when cultivated for its green pods, plantings 

 may be made at any time during the month. 



The ripe seeds are either drab or light slate, both 

 colors being common, marked and spotted with light 

 drab. In some specimens, drab is the prevailing color. 

 They are kidney-shaped, irregularly compressed or flattened, 

 nearly three-fourths of an inch long, and three-eighths of an 

 inch deep. A quart contains sixteen hundred seeds, and is 

 sufficient for planting a row two hundred and fifty feet in 

 length, or two hundred hills. 



This variety, as an early string-bean, is decidedly one of 

 the best, and is also one of the hardiest and most prolific. 

 The pods should be plucked when quite young ; and, if often 

 gathered, the plants will continue a long time in bearing. 



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